Concentrating mostly on EPO and Blood Boosters, but also a little on common Steroids and HGH
As steroid's have become more popular and widespread in porfessional sports, there incrreased usage has resulted in a spike of teenage use. This shows the direct relationship between steroids and their affects on popular culture. Thus, our project is necessary and seeks to argue against a problem not only of integrity in athletics, but of dangerous trends and drugs in our culture today.
a graph of steroid use in adolescents
Though not receiving much attention in the media, high school steroid use is a problem that is spreading rapidly throughout the country. Studies and surveys are showing that hundreds of thousands of high school athletes across the country have used steroids at some point in their high school career. In a survey taken in Texas, 42,000 students in grades 7-12 have admitted that they have used steroids at one point. This use of steriods spreads beyond just athletes. Nonathletes are even using steroids as they are influenced by the images shown by the media and want to try to build muscular bodies in order to impress their friends. The problems with this use of steroids in high school age students is enormous. Legislation is pending in numerous states to require mandatory drug testing for athletes, a measure that surely would be a deterrent to the use of steroids. If nothing is done to stop this use of steroids, high school athletics as we know it will be transformed into somehting much more dangerous.
Click on the discussion tab above to discuss whether or not you believe high school athletes should have to undergo steroid testing.
Based on our above graph, and the results of the Texas survey, steroid use in high schools is increasing, this issue is sreading from big time sports to average high school kids. What should be done about it? Please discuss: http://leboaplac.wikispaces.com/message/list/Dynizzle
Video examining steroid use among teens and children.
When major sports figures use steroids, they influence the general public and have a trickle down effect, thus increasing steroid use among teens.
Basically, EPO is used by endurance athletes (runners, cyclists) in order to create more red blood cells and enhance the body's capabilities to transport blood and thus effectively increase stamina and endurance. Similar, but to a much greater extent of training at altitude, where the body is forced to produce more blood cells and 'work harder', thus repairing itself to a greater extent than before and consequently raising performance levels.
external image MerckxAug9_1969_1.jpg
Actually, the main use of administrating exogenous sources (not produced within the body) of EPO in humans is to treat patients suffering from anemia, especially those with kidney failure and those undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. However, with the recent great increase in genetic engineering technology, synthetic or recombinant EPO (rEPO) has become readily available and has come to be abused by athletes – especially endurance athletes. The theoretical logic for its use as an ergogenic aid in athletes is this: if you increase the oxygen-carrying ability of the blood (erythrocytes) above normal levels, then it follows that the muscles will receive more oxygen and be able to perform better and generate more power for longer periods of time, thereby significantly improving performance. This logic explains why some endurance athletes train at altitude or participate in the forbidden practice of “blood doping” as a means of boosting the number of erythrocytes. Blood doping involves drawing blood from an athlete to induce anemia, waiting a few weeks to allow erythropoietin to restore the hematocrit to normal levels (~ 45% men, ~ 42% women), and then reinfusing the athlete’s stored blood thereby boosting the erythrocyte density. Administration of rEPO is capable of producing performance benefits comparable to blood doping and significantly better results than several weeks or months of altitude training. An athlete may boost their hematocrit levels 3-4% within 4 weeks with rEPO use. As a result of this ergogenic effect, several athletic governing bodies have frowned upon blood doping and rEPO use, as they are essentially methods of cheating.(http://ezinearticles.com/?EPO---The-Endurance-Athletes-Steroid&id=99538)
Athletes Who's Careers Have Been Ruined by Steriods
Floyd Landis
FLOYD LANDIS WON THE TOUR DE FRANCE BUT AFTER HIS VICTORY HE WAS ACCUSED OF EPO USE, THE ACCUSATION CASE WAS RIDDEN WITH MISTAKES AND INTRICATE LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS. CYCLING IS ONE OF THE SPORTS WHICH EPO HAS TAINTED THE MOST.
Here are some athlete who have had very successful careers without taking any steroids.
Ryan Howard
Ryan Howard
Sidney Crosby
Sidney Crosby
Why is EPO dangerous? The same effect that improves endurance performance also risks the safety of the user. By increasing the thickness of the blood, EPO increases the risk of blood clotting which can block blood vessels causing a heart attack or stroke. Use of EPO also causes hypertension, and can lead to seizures and congestive heart failure. Sport is about testing limits. Unfortunately, in the case of EPO the limit being tested is how high the red blood cell content of the athlete?s blood can increase before blood flow is impaired and the athlete dies. Hematocrit is the proportion of the blood that is made up of red blood cells. Normal hematocrit levels are approximately 40-50% in men and 37-47% in women. EPO can boost hematocrit well above this range. As the athlete becomes dehydrated during training or racing, blood volume is reduced, further increasing hematocrit and the blood?s resistance to flow. During a marathon, the hematocrit of a non-doped runner may increase from 45 to 55. There is no set value at which a high hematocrit becomes dangerous, but the risk increases geometrically at hematocrit levels above 55%. If an EPO-doped marathoner starts the race at 52, his hematocrit could climb above 60 during the race. Can EPO be detected? Development of a valid and reliable test to detect synthetic EPO was a major priority of the International Olympic Committee leading up to the 2000 Olympics. Test development has taken many years due to the difficulty in producing an antibody that can distinguish synthetic EPO from the naturally-produced hormone, and because the half-life of synthetic EPO in the blood is only 6-8 hours. EPO testing is now valid and reliable, and is being used more and more in international sport. There is no question that injecting synthetic EPO can improve performance for distance runners and other endurance athletes. Given the widespread use among cyclists, we would be naive to think that EPO abuse is not also prevalent in our sport.
(http://www.pfitzinger.com/labreports/epo.shtml)
Steroid use in baseball was first evident with Mark McGwire taking Andro and breaking the homerun record by a huge margin.
Androstenedione (Andro) is a designer steroid often mentioned in relation with athletes, although there is little scientific evidence to support its effectiveness in improving sports performance. Andro is a supplement made from a naturally occurring steroid hormone. In 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the sale of Andro.
(http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/performanceenhancingdrugs/a/AnabolicSteroid.htm)
Marion Jones has also had a high profile case involving her use of steroids and her track and field career. After winning gold medals at the last Olympics in 2004, she has now been stripped of everything she has won. Her reputation is tarnished and she no longer will be looked up to by children around the world.
Testing
For testosterone: The average person has a 1-to-1 ratio of testosterone to the hormone epitestosterone. But people naturally have varying amounts of testosterone, so the World Anti-Doping Agency had to build flexibility into its policy. WADA considers a urine test positive only if the T-E ratio exceeds 4 to 1. Thus, some athletes try to boost their bodies' level of testosterone to just below the acceptable ratio. For anabolic steroids: Steroids are generally taken to boost off-season workouts, which means antidoping programs that focus on in-season testing are doomed. In addition many steroids, particularly water-based, injectable ones, can largely clear the body in days, so testing must be frequent to be effective. Perhaps the most pressing problem for antidoping officials is designer steroids: They have customized molecular structures that keep their anabolic properties, but, because of their novelty, they're hard to detect with tests. BALCO gave athletes designer drugs, and it wasn't until Don Catlin, founder of the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory, realized he was looking at a steroid not previously used for doping that he detected "the Clear." For HGH: Most of the growth hormone molecules in an average person's body -- perhaps 80% to 85% -- weigh 22 kilodaltons each; the remainder come in other forms, including a 20-kilodalton variety. But synthetic HGH is composed entirely of 22-kilodalton molecules, so an athlete who has injected it will have an abnormally high percentage of those. A blood test for HGH is not yet commercially available, but antidoping officials expect one to be ready for Beijing. (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/magazine/03/11/hgh/index.html)
external image ts?t=11399671183301434673
Negative Side Effects
Clearly the above model is harmfully affected by his unfortunate use of steroids. Not only is he bloated and covered in acne, but his testicles are no longer as large as they once were, before his steroid use.
CONCLUSIONS
Based on the data accumulated and research of leading scientists in the field, both EPO use and the use of the various commonplace steroids, have proven that these drugs not only unfairly improve athletic performance and taint the sanctity of our world's sporting ventures, but they also are huge health risks, and very dangerous. Overall, steroid use has become much more common and easily accessible to our athletes within the last twenty to thirty years, and are now a rampant problem that is damaging the integrity of our beloved sports.
Steroids Tainting Modern Day Athletics
Concentrating mostly on EPO and Blood Boosters, but also a little on common Steroids and HGH
As steroid's have become more popular and widespread in porfessional sports, there incrreased usage has resulted in a spike of teenage use. This shows the direct relationship between steroids and their affects on popular culture. Thus, our project is necessary and seeks to argue against a problem not only of integrity in athletics, but of dangerous trends and drugs in our culture today.
Though not receiving much attention in the media, high school steroid use is a problem that is spreading rapidly throughout the country. Studies and surveys are showing that hundreds of thousands of high school athletes across the country have used steroids at some point in their high school career. In a survey taken in Texas, 42,000 students in grades 7-12 have admitted that they have used steroids at one point. This use of steriods spreads beyond just athletes. Nonathletes are even using steroids as they are influenced by the images shown by the media and want to try to build muscular bodies in order to impress their friends. The problems with this use of steroids in high school age students is enormous. Legislation is pending in numerous states to require mandatory drug testing for athletes, a measure that surely would be a deterrent to the use of steroids. If nothing is done to stop this use of steroids, high school athletics as we know it will be transformed into somehting much more dangerous.
Click on the discussion tab above to discuss whether or not you believe high school athletes should have to undergo steroid testing.
Based on our above graph, and the results of the Texas survey, steroid use in high schools is increasing, this issue is sreading from big time sports to average high school kids. What should be done about it? Please discuss: http://leboaplac.wikispaces.com/message/list/Dynizzle
Video examining steroid use among teens and children.
When major sports figures use steroids, they influence the general public and have a trickle down effect, thus increasing steroid use among teens.
One of the Many Types of Steroids: EPO EPO is a bioengineered recombinant DNA hormone that is an exact duplicate of the human hormone erythropoietin. ( http://www.competitorsocal.com/nutrition/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-epo-but-were-afraid-to-ask.html)
Basically, EPO is used by endurance athletes (runners, cyclists) in order to create more red blood cells and enhance the body's capabilities to transport blood and thus effectively increase stamina and endurance. Similar, but to a much greater extent of training at altitude, where the body is forced to produce more blood cells and 'work harder', thus repairing itself to a greater extent than before and consequently raising performance levels.
Actually, the main use of administrating exogenous sources (not produced within the body) of EPO in humans is to treat patients suffering from anemia, especially those with kidney failure and those undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. However, with the recent great increase in genetic engineering technology, synthetic or recombinant EPO (rEPO) has become readily available and has come to be abused by athletes – especially endurance athletes. The theoretical logic for its use as an ergogenic aid in athletes is this: if you increase the oxygen-carrying ability of the blood (erythrocytes) above normal levels, then it follows that the muscles will receive more oxygen and be able to perform better and generate more power for longer periods of time, thereby significantly improving performance.
This logic explains why some endurance athletes train at altitude or participate in the forbidden practice of “blood doping” as a means of boosting the number of erythrocytes. Blood doping involves drawing blood from an athlete to induce anemia, waiting a few weeks to allow erythropoietin to restore the hematocrit to normal levels (~ 45% men, ~ 42% women), and then reinfusing the athlete’s stored blood thereby boosting the erythrocyte density. Administration of rEPO is capable of producing performance benefits comparable to blood doping and significantly better results than several weeks or months of altitude training. An athlete may boost their hematocrit levels 3-4% within 4 weeks with rEPO use. As a result of this ergogenic effect, several athletic governing bodies have frowned upon blood doping and rEPO use, as they are essentially methods of cheating.(http://ezinearticles.com/?EPO---The-Endurance-Athletes-Steroid&id=99538)
Athletes Who's Careers Have Been Ruined by Steriods
FLOYD LANDIS WON THE TOUR DE FRANCE BUT AFTER HIS VICTORY HE WAS ACCUSED OF EPO USE, THE ACCUSATION CASE WAS RIDDEN WITH MISTAKES AND INTRICATE LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS. CYCLING IS ONE OF THE SPORTS WHICH EPO HAS TAINTED THE MOST.
Here are some athlete who have had very successful careers without taking any steroids.
Why is EPO dangerous?
The same effect that improves endurance performance also risks the safety of the user. By increasing the thickness of the blood, EPO increases the risk of blood clotting which can block blood vessels causing a heart attack or stroke. Use of EPO also causes hypertension, and can lead to seizures and congestive heart failure. Sport is about testing limits. Unfortunately, in the case of EPO the limit being tested is how high the red blood cell content of the athlete?s blood can increase before blood flow is impaired and the athlete dies.
Hematocrit is the proportion of the blood that is made up of red blood cells. Normal hematocrit levels are approximately 40-50% in men and 37-47% in women. EPO can boost hematocrit well above this range. As the athlete becomes dehydrated during training or racing, blood volume is reduced, further increasing hematocrit and the blood?s resistance to flow. During a marathon, the hematocrit of a non-doped runner may increase from 45 to 55. There is no set value at which a high hematocrit becomes dangerous, but the risk increases geometrically at hematocrit levels above 55%. If an EPO-doped marathoner starts the race at 52, his hematocrit could climb above 60 during the race.
Can EPO be detected?
Development of a valid and reliable test to detect synthetic EPO was a major priority of the International Olympic Committee leading up to the 2000 Olympics. Test development has taken many years due to the difficulty in producing an antibody that can distinguish synthetic EPO from the naturally-produced hormone, and because the half-life of synthetic EPO in the blood is only 6-8 hours. EPO testing is now valid and reliable, and is being used more and more in international sport.
There is no question that injecting synthetic EPO can improve performance for distance runners and other endurance athletes. Given the widespread use among cyclists, we would be naive to think that EPO abuse is not also prevalent in our sport.
(http://www.pfitzinger.com/labreports/epo.shtml)
Audio File
Should We Accept Steroid Use in Sports?
An NPR audio file examining the issue of steroid use in sports and their impact and influence.http://www.pluggd.tv/audio/channels/npr_intelligence_squared/episodes/3tlk3
STEROIDS
The steroids themselves may be:
Anabolic steroids -- or more precisely, anabolic-androgenic steroids -- are the synthetic derivatives of the naturally occurring male anabolic hormone testosterone. (http://espn.go.com/special/s/drugsandsports/steroids.html)
Steroid use in baseball was first evident with Mark McGwire taking Andro and breaking the homerun record by a huge margin.
Androstenedione (Andro) is a designer steroid often mentioned in relation with athletes, although there is little scientific evidence to support its effectiveness in improving sports performance. Andro is a supplement made from a naturally occurring steroid hormone. In 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the sale of Andro.
(http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/performanceenhancingdrugs/a/AnabolicSteroid.htm)
Marion Jones has also had a high profile case involving her use of steroids and her track and field career. After winning gold medals at the last Olympics in 2004, she has now been stripped of everything she has won. Her reputation is tarnished and she no longer will be looked up to by children around the world.
Testing
For testosterone: The average person has a 1-to-1 ratio of testosterone to the hormone epitestosterone. But people naturally have varying amounts of testosterone, so the World Anti-Doping Agency had to build flexibility into its policy. WADA considers a urine test positive only if the T-E ratio exceeds 4 to 1. Thus, some athletes try to boost their bodies' level of testosterone to just below the acceptable ratio.For anabolic steroids: Steroids are generally taken to boost off-season workouts, which means antidoping programs that focus on in-season testing are doomed. In addition many steroids, particularly water-based, injectable ones, can largely clear the body in days, so testing must be frequent to be effective. Perhaps the most pressing problem for antidoping officials is designer steroids: They have customized molecular structures that keep their anabolic properties, but, because of their novelty, they're hard to detect with tests. BALCO gave athletes designer drugs, and it wasn't until Don Catlin, founder of the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory, realized he was looking at a steroid not previously used for doping that he detected "the Clear."
For HGH: Most of the growth hormone molecules in an average person's body -- perhaps 80% to 85% -- weigh 22 kilodaltons each; the remainder come in other forms, including a 20-kilodalton variety. But synthetic HGH is composed entirely of 22-kilodalton molecules, so an athlete who has injected it will have an abnormally high percentage of those. A blood test for HGH is not yet commercially available, but antidoping officials expect one to be ready for Beijing. (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/magazine/03/11/hgh/index.html)
Negative Side Effects
Clearly the above model is harmfully affected by his unfortunate use of steroids. Not only is he bloated and covered in acne, but his testicles are no longer as large as they once were, before his steroid use.
CONCLUSIONS
Based on the data accumulated and research of leading scientists in the field, both EPO use and the use of the various commonplace steroids, have proven that these drugs not only unfairly improve athletic performance and taint the sanctity of our world's sporting ventures, but they also are huge health risks, and very dangerous. Overall, steroid use has become much more common and easily accessible to our athletes within the last twenty to thirty years, and are now a rampant problem that is damaging the integrity of our beloved sports.
Work Cited
“Anabolic steroids.” ESPN. 6 Sept 2007. May 10, 2008.
<http://espn.go.com/special/s/drugsandsports/steroids.html>
“Everything You Wanted to Know About EPO.” Competitor Socal Magazine. 22 Jan
2008. 10 May 2008. <http://www.competitorsocal.com/nutrition/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-epo-but-were-afraid-to-ask.html>
Petersen, David. “EPO - The Endurance Athlete's Steroid.” Ezine Articles. May 11 2008.
<http://ezinearticles.com/?EPO---The-Endurance-Athletes-Steroid&id=99538>
Pfitzinger, Pete. “EPO: ILLEGAL, EFFECTIVE, AND DEADLY.” Distance Coach.
May 12, 2008. <http://www.pfitzinger.com/labreports/epo.shtml>
Quinn, Elizabeth. “Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids in Sports.” 30 Nov 2007. 13 May 2008.
<http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/performanceenhancingdrugs/a/AnabolicSteroid.htm></span>
Steriods PSA." TeacherTube. 5 Jan 2008. 27 May 2008. <http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=d9e8d4c4bf739243bb54>
“The ABC's of HGH.” Sports Illustrated. 11 Mar 2008. May 14, 2008.
<http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/magazine/03/11/hgh/index.html></span>